Hazlet Lutheran Church coming to life with Belle Plaine concert

Erin McKnight and Lyndsay Alliban purchased the Hazlet Lutheran Church last summer with the vision of restoring it to be a place where community events can be held. On Feb. 15, the church will be the venue for a Belle Plaine house concert.Photo contributed

It's been many years since the Hazlet Lutheran Church has been abuzz with activities and a couple of enterprising young ladies are trying to bring life back into the place.

"Their last church service was in 1992 and it's been sitting empty ever since," said Erin McKnight, who purchased the building last summer with Lindsay Alliban, with the vision of renovating it as a place to hold community events."Most importantly, we bought it to save it. Secondly, it is a great space for holding events. We'll be able to hold concerts, weddings, and events with live music where people can come listen to live music, enjoy a nice atmosphere, and enjoy some visiting," she added.The building was originally located seven kilometers northeast of Hazlet in the hamlet of Bethany, but was moved to Hazlet in 1959. From then until 1992, the Hazlet Lutheran Church was a place for local people to gather, worship, and enjoy fellowship. The church has sat empty ever since, that is until McKnight and Alliban purchased it and started doing repairs."The roof has been leaking and a few groups have tried to do repairs over the years. The interior is beautiful, but with the leaky roof, it wouldn't be for much longer," said McKnight.The roof will be tinned this spring, with short- and long term projects being planned. One of their long-term plans is to build a small kitchen for the facility."We would like to attach a kitchen to the building, but that is a longer-term goal that would make it better for holding events," she said.On Feb. 15, they will be holding their first public event, a house concert featuring the talents of Saskatchewan's Belle Plaine. "People can come and listen to her beautiful voice. We just want to get people inside so they can look around," said McKnight. "Any money we do make would go into the renovations for the building,"The house concert with Belle Plaine takes place at 8 p.m. on Feb. 15. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by contacting McKnight at 306-741-7873 or Alliban at 306-741-3775.